Rob Thoburn

Trying to add value to the global conversation

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

@saludconjunior @om_patel5 Good point. The issue you bring up compounds the one I brought up.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

"Trying to brute force a god into being."

Description of the current state of AI by SmoothBrainSavant on Reddit today.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

If Tehran thinks we’re uncertain, they may divert resources to reinforce defenses, relocate materials, or even pause enrichment, buying time for intelligence.

As Sun Tzu said: "All warfare is based on deception."
https://t.co/RQtuPeINmV

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

Per @FT: European intel suggests Iran’s uranium stockpile remains largely intact after US strikes. Strategically, wouldn’t it benefit the US if Iran believed we doubted the attack’s success, rather than claiming we "obliterated" their program?

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

My favorite episode of The Compound & Friends yet. Rebecca Patterson was fantastic. Super informative. Loved the part about foreign capital flows and central bank treasury holdings. https://t.co/ascTDA31GZ

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

5/5 As leaders, collaborators, or participants in any group, how can we create these kinds of productive environments? How do we encourage dialogue that embraces diversity of thought without succumbing to the pitfalls of conformity? #leadership #communication #collaboration

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

1/5 Where the wisdom of the crowd meets the madness of the crowd: Mariano Sigman, in "The Power of Words: How to Speak, Listen and Think Better," describes something powerful about small-group conversations:

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

4/5 This idea resonates deeply. It’s in these intimate spaces—free from groupthink but rich with collaborative insight—that innovation thrives, mistakes are corrected, and better ideas emerge.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

@unusual_whales If implemented, those plans could accelerate China's global dominance in EV and battery manufacturing.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

The first photo of Earth—the "Blue Marble"—made humanity care for its planet. Imagine if we saw a photo of our own heart or lungs, fragile and miraculous. Maybe we'd treat our bodies with the same awe and care.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

2/ While personal choices matter, framing climate change as an individual problem obscures the outsized role of big polluters. Real progress means holding corporations like BP accountable for their emissions, not just tracking ours.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

1/ BP didn't invent the term 'carbon footprint,' but they popularized it in 2004 through a major ad campaign. Their goal? Shift focus from systemic emissions by fossil fuel giants to individual responsibility. Similar to how beverage and plastic industries weaponized recycling.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

Imagine if the internet evolved as paid services instead of free platforms monetizing data. No mass data scraping, but higher-quality data (and less of it) for AI. Would AI today be less powerful—or paradoxically more advanced? A counterfactual worth considering. #AIDevelopment

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

While the headlines from the NAR report highlight the median age of buyers hitting a record 56, the more striking finding to me is that single women now make up 20% of home buyers—more than double the 8% share for single men. A fascinating shift in gender dynamics in real estate.

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

2/2 https://t.co/4oduOYIivZ

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

1/2 Markets priced Trump’s re-election as less volatile because volatility measures near-term price fluctuations, not long-term unpredictability. Investors know Trump’s presidency isn’t less risky, just that its chaos is too complex to model or price. #finance #volatility

[Rob Thoburn @robthoburn]

I'm finding ChatGPT pretty helpful for a deep-dive critical analysis of Karl Marx's Capital (Vol. 1, translated by Paul Reitter). I'm pretty certain I’d exhaust a human being if I were to engage them in this exercise for more than a minute. #Marx #Capital #CriticalThinking